OC Transpo bus pass refunds

If anyone needs yet another reason to dislike OC Transpo (after this and this), it seems that they are trying to minimize the number of people who bought bus passes for December and who get the promised refunds:

Until Feb. 21, riders could bring their December passes to a kiosk and receive a full cash refund. But now that the deadline has passed, those still holding those passes must mail them to OC Transpo by Saturday and they will then receive a cheque in the mail — which may help those who gave up on the long line-ups at kiosks this past Saturday.

If riders miss the Feb. 28th deadline, they can exchange their December pass for a discount on a March pass.

The situation for those of us with annual passes remains ambiguous. We were being charged during the span when there was no bus service, and I don’t yet know what remedy (if any) will be offered.

Anyhow, those who bought monthly passes for December should mail them off as soon as possible.

“ECOPASS payroll deductions are currently stopped, but ECOPASSES are still valid on OC Transpo and STO buses.

ECOPASS holders will receive the same discount and reimbursements which have been offered to other December pass holders. This discount and reimbursement will be provided by further postponing payroll deductions.

The total discount period, before any deductions resume, will include credit for:

* any amount that you paid after the strike began, plus
* credit for service in February, equal to 10 days of weekday service, plus
* credit for a 60% discount in March, plus
* credit for Express Ecopass holders, equal to the monthly express premium which would normally be charged in April, May or June.

Payroll deductions will resume at the appropriate pay-period in April, May or June based on the date that deductions were stopped by your employer, the extra deduction-holiday calculated from the above credits, and the timing of your pay period. For details, please contact your Ecopass Administrator.”

OTTAWA — OC Transpo riders who bought bus tickets last year must use them up or exchange them for new tickets by July 1 due to the introduction of new fare boxes.

The transit company will no longer accept old green or orange tickets because they will jam the fare boxes that are being introduced starting in July, said Alain Mercier, general manager of transit with the city.

There have been serious problems with the new fare boxes jamming with smaller bus tickets during test runs. So the company had the large, fluorescent 2009 tickets produced, which have been shown to work well with the same system in other cities, said Mercier.